NORTH OLD BOYS-ST PATRICK'S COLLEGE BALLARAT
Current Affiliation: Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) since 1963
Home Ground: Alec Gillon Oval, Brunswick
Formed: 1932; expelled from the VAFA and disbanded 1939; reformed 1963. In 2005, North Old Boys formed an alliance with fellow Christian Brothers College, St Patrick's Old Collegians of Ballarat, which had itself been an autonomous member of the VAFA on three separate occasions: in 1939-40, from 1951 to 1955, and between 1964 and 1977.
Colours: Purple and white
Senior VAFA Premierships: A Section - 1976, 1982 (2 total); D Section - 1965 (1 total); E Section - 1964 (1 total) [St Patrick's won premierships in F Section in 1964, D Section in 1967, and E Section in 1965 and 1971.]
Senior Competition Best and Fairest Awards: J.N. Woodrow Medal (A Section) - L.Carney 1972; R.Peasnell 1973 (2 total); G.T. Moore Medal (B Section) - J.Power 1938 (1 total); J. Fullerton Medal (E Section) - J.Adams 1963 (1 total) [St Patrick's: L.S. Pepper Medal (D Section) - B.McKenna 1956 (1 total)]
| MINI-BIOGRAPHIES: | Frank Dunell Garry Foulds |
The original North Melbourne Christian Brothers College Old Boys Football Club was established in 1932, and was promptly admitted to the newly formed D Section of the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association, which changed its name the next year to the VAFA. North performed extremely creditably in its first few seasons, finishing 4th in D Grade in 1932, 2nd in D Grade in 1933, and 2nd in C Grade in 1934. In 1937 the side made the B Section finals, ultimately finishing 4th, but far from proving a herald of better things it was tantamount to a last hurrah. Two years later the club found itself subjected to the indignity of expulsion from the VAFA for willfully fielding a debarred player under an assumed name. The deception might never have been uncovered had not the player in question been something of a hothead who, having abused an umpire and been dragged before the tribunal, appears to have been rather less circumspect than North's officials might have wished. His true identity divulged, the player was sent packing, but the matter was far from over. The VAFA launched a detailed investigation which revealed that the whole affair had been the brainchild of a couple of rather ambitious members of the club's committee, who had acted entirely without the knowledge or sanction of their peers. Despite this, the VAFA was not disposed to be lenient - it seldom was where matters of amateur integrity were concerned - and North was unceremoniously ousted. Many felt that the punishment far outweighed the crime in this instance, and that the VAFA's real motives were sectarian, but such feelings did not translate into any kind of tangible support for North, and the onset of war a few weeks later quickly relegated concerns of this nature to the back burner.
The 1939 season also saw the arrival on the VAFA scene of North Old Boys' future partner, St Patrick's Old Collegians of Ballarat. St Pat's initial stint had only lasted a season and a half when the Association called a halt to its proceedings because of the war, but the club would twice more resurface, and during its final incarnation between 1964 and 1975 would enjoy a fair amount of success. That success got underway in the 1964 season itself with a 9.5 (59) to 3.6 (24) defeat of Assumption Old Collegians in the first ever F Section grand final. The following year brought a second consecutive premiership thanks to a 13.16 (94) to 10.17 (77) E Grade grand final win over Kooyong, and after finishing 3rd in D Grade in 1966 the side made it three flags in four seasons with a 12.7 (79) to 9.3 (57) grand final victory over Hampton Rovers. St Pat's fourth and final VAFA premiership was won in E Section in 1971 thanks to a 7.16 (58) to 8.9 (57) grand final defeat of La Trobe Blacks. In 1975 the club altered its name to St Patrick's Monivae Old Collegians, but two years later it found itself unable to recruit enough players to continue, and went into mothballs.
North Melbourne Christian Brothers College Old Boys Football Club meanwhile had been resurrected in 1963, and readmitted to the VAFA, in E Section, the same year. After a season of acclimatisation, the side had hopped aboard the A Grade express, stopping only the minimum time necessary in each of the intervening grades en route. In plain English, this meant that North won promotion from sections E, D, C and B in successive years, arriving in A Section for the first time in the club's history in 1968. The first two grand finals - against Old Geelong Grammarians in E Grade, and Preston in D Grade - were both won, and won well, but in C Section and B Section the side went down to Geelong Amateurs and Ormond respectively.
Having completed their ascent in the shortest time possible, North's progress stalled, and by 1970 they were back in B Grade. Recovery was swift, however, and promotion back to A Section in 1971 was a prelude to the most noteworthy decade in the club's history, although such an assessment is tempered to some extent by the feeling that it could, perhaps should, have been even better. In the view of some, North's teams of the mid to late seventies were among the finest ever seen in amateur football (see footnote 1), but for some reason they only once managed to produce their best football when it mattered most. Every season from 1975 to 1978 North entered the finals as warm flag favourites, a rating they typically embellished by winning the 2nd semi final, but only once - in 1976 - did they emerge victorious from the premiership decider.
Captain-coached by Shane Maguire, the North team that comfortably disposed of St Bernard's Old Collegians in the 1976 grand final was littered with talent in the shape of players like Mauro Borcich, Domenic Butera, Barry O'Connor, Mick Welch, Mark Hannebury, Barry Anderson and Les Murray. Anderson won the club's best and fairest award in 1976, while Murray achieved the rare feat of playing in a senior premiership team whilst serving as president of the club. As for the coach, he was undoubtedly one of the key figures in the club's history, playing in excess of 250 senior games, and winning a best and fairest award in 1973. A regular Victorian interstate representative, he was state captain at the 1976 Adelaide AAFC Carnival, and twice earned selection in All Australian amateur teams.
North Old Boys' A Section grand final losses in this period came at the hands of St Bernard's by 45 points in 1975, De La Salle by 3 points in 1977, and Old Scotch by 5 points in 1978. The Old Scotch loss was especially galling in that the decisive goal was not kicked until moments from the end of the match.
The early 1980s brought another flourish as North reached consecutive A Grade grand finals in 1981-2, and finished 4th in 1983 and 1985. Terry Scanlon was coach of the both the grand final sides, against Old Xaverians in 1981 (lost by 19 points), and De La Salle the following year. The De La Salle match was one in which everything came together for North, who won convincingly 19.7 (121) to 8.15 (63). The fact that the standard of VAFA football in general was probably at an all time high during this period makes the achievement all the more noteworthy (see footnote 2). A highlight of North's 1982 grand final win was veteran Mick Welch's feat in playing in his second such side, making him the club's only dual A Grade premiership player to date.
Over the course of the decade following the 1982 triumph North remained in A Section, contesting further grand finals in 1986 and 1991, both of which were lost. Following the 1991 defeat the club experienced something of a dip in fortunes, with third place finishes in B Section in 2000 and 2002 the closest it has come to a return to premiership glory. In 2005 North Old Boys joined forces with St Patrick's College, but unfortunately this coincided with relegation to C Grade, where the side had last competed in 1966. The 2006 season was certainly not one to write home about either as North Old Boys-St Pat's managed just 6 wins from 18 matches to avoid a second consecutive relegation by the merest whisker. However, this represented but a temporary stay of execution, as a year later the side managed just 3 wins from 18 matches to plummet to last place on the C Grade ladder, meaning that the 2008 season will see North Old Boys lining up in D1 Section.
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Footnotes
1. For example, Michael Ashford, author of Pride And Premierships: A History Of De La Salle Old Collegians Amateur Football Club 1955-1980, offers this candid appraisal of the respective qualities of the two 1977 A Section grand finalists:
The North premiership combination was virtually intact and it would take an incredible effort to beat this super team. The De La team was not made up of naturally fit men, or natural runners; they were players who all required plenty of work to bring them to their peak. Their play did not flow easily or gracefully, and effort and concentration were required at all times. By way of comparison, North had a few players who, at certain times, had the run of the play such that a goal always looked inevitable. Their moves flowed, they seemed to do it from habit, and there was no immediate way to prevent it. Return to Main Text
2. Evidence of the strength of the VAFA game in 1982 was evidenced by the surprising but wholly warranted victory by a representative side against a full strength VFA combination. Played on VFA home turf at Sandringham, the VAFA trailed at every change before surging to victory with a 10 goal final quarter burst. Scores were VAFA 23.12 (150) to VFA 19.17 (131), with North represented by its 1982 club champion Gus Carroll, Geoff Dillon, Mark Malone and Paul Considine. Return to Main Text